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Best College Professor with a Serious Hobby

David Bernstein of Mills College

When Mills College professor David Bernstein wants to get away from it all, he really does it. The professor of music is also an avid rock climber, having explored mountains all over the country including the North Face of the Grand Tetons in Wyoming. In addition to his excursions scaling the sides of mountains, Bernstein also enjoys bicycling and other outdoor activities. And his love for exploring nature plays into his work as a music scholar, giving Bernstein inspiration when he's starting a new book on composers like John Cage and Pauline Oliveros; the music theory aficionado once wrote an introduction while on a climbing expedition. As the prior head of the music department and having spent more than twenty years teaching at Mills, the occasionally eccentric professor proves that there's always time to get into the wild.